From Ifeoma Ejiofor
Civil Rights Concern(CRC) on Thursday says the State Assemblies alone are not effective check on the executive arm of government when it comes to borrowing and usage of such borrowed monies.
The Executive Director (ED) of the group, Mr Okey Onyeka stated this during an interactive session with journalists in Awka.
He said that executives across the country especially in the South East have successfully pocketed the House of Assemblies thereby making it difficult for any effective oversight role to be carried out.
Mr Onyeka said that things are really getting hard and more difficult for citizens because most of the governors are borrowing for show off rather than creating wealth with loans taken.
The Executive Director of CRC who presented infographics of how things have been on the downward slope for the Southeast states over a period under review said that the huge local and international loans obtained by the executive arm of government has not translated into better life for the people.
“Nigeria has been moving from fixed developmental plan to rolling plan, the debt profile has been on consistent increase, if debt profile is on the rise and poverty is also rising simultaneously, it is an indication of of poor husbandary of the nation’s resources.
“There is practically nothing to show in the Southeast for the huge debt profile of the five states in the zone, all these are happening because the people and the stakeholders have not been taking keen interest on the issue of budgeting in their states.
“The present reality has made it imperative for the executive arm of government to be held responsible to ensure that loan taken are spent on specific productive purposes, rather than investing huge resources on servicing loans. The citizens should not stay aloof, they should join CRC to track the performance of loans,” he said.
The CRC boss also expressed the preparedness of his group to partner with the media and other human rights groups on campaigns against reckless spending of acquired loans.